Chef Mark Steuer at Chicago’s Funkenhausen, has created a Beer Bratwurst recipe to kick off your next backyard barbeque. At Funkenhausen, Chef Mark draws on his German heritage and Charleston, South Carolina upbringing to create a menu that reimagines his fondest meals and memories from childhood with a soulful mash-up of cuisines, cultures and memories. Chef Mark’s full recipe can be found here.
Soul & Smoke
Soul & Smoke, with a recent expansion into all 44 Mariano’s grocery stores in the Chicagoland area, offers Chef D’Andre’s barbeque sauce to-go bottles for all the at-home grillmasters. This Kansas City-style barbeque sauce offers the sweet, tangy and thick profile of Kansas City sauce.
urbanbelly and The Table at Crate
Chicago Chef Bill Kim is the author behind “Korean BBQ: Master Your Grill in Seven Sauces” and he offers a tip to up your BBQ game this summer — it’s all about the sauce.
“Literally all you need to blow away your friends and family at the next barbecue is to up your sauces,” said Kim and he added, “the night before you barbecue, take what you’re grilling and let it sit overnight in a sauce or marinade. When you cook it and taste it, it’ll feel like it’s been prepped by ten people. Planning in advance helps you get great multi-dimensional flavors. It’s absolutely no work but makes all the difference in the end.”
One of the sauces Chef Kim holds near and dear to his heart is his Soy Balsamic Sauce. It was his first attempt at using ingredients that didn’t normally go together. Balsamic vinegar has a mix of sweetness, acidity and body to combine with the brown sugar and soy sauce with his creation. Full recipe below:
Ingredients:
1 teaspoon cornstarch, or as needed
2 tablespoons water
¼ cup dark brown sugar, firmly packed
½ cup balsamic vinegar
½ cup soy sauce
Instructions: Makes one cup. Prep time ten minutes, cook time ten minutes
In a small bowl, stir together the cornstarch and water until the cornstarch dissolves and the mixture is the consistency of heavy cream, adding more cornstarch if the mixture is too thin.
Combine the brown sugar, vinegar and soy sauce in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Stir the cornstarch mixture briefly to recombine, then stir it into the soy-vinegar mixture and simmer over low heat for about three minutes, until the sauce thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon.
Remove from the heat, let it cool completely, then refrigerate in an airtight container. This sauce will last for months without going bad.
El Che Steakhouse & Bar
John Manion’s flame-finished beef pairs with his personal concoction: Meat Butter. Unlike most other steakhouses Manion does not prefer his steak to be finished with butter, rather, he would prefer to keep beef tasting like beef by slathering the mix on steaks while they are resting. Full recipe below:
Ingredients:
3lbs trimmed beef fat, diced
4 garlic gloves, finely chopped
Salt to taste
Instructions: Makes 2 Cups
Clean the fat of all meat scraps, and cut into very small pieces. Place it in a food processor, and pulse until it is the consistency of hamburger meat.
Transfer the fat to a Dutch oven and place over very low heat. Slowly cook the fat, stirring occasionally. Skim any impurities that rise to the top. Continue to render the fat until it looks like crumbs and you have a good amount of golden liquid. This can take 3 to 4 hours, but trust me; it’s worth the time. Keep an eye on it; you definitely do not want to scorch or burn it.
Strain the fat through a cheesecloth, then transfer it to a container. Place it in the refrigerator to cool until semi- soft. In a stand or handheld mixer, add garlic and salt to taste, and whip for two minutes. Refrigerate, covered tightly, for up to a month.
Andros Taverna
Chef Doug Psaltis is the Executive Chef and owner of Logan Square’s Andros Taverna, which specializes in Greek food. Chef Psaltis offers his best tips and tricks of the trades for you below:
— What makes you want to cook with a charcoal hearth like you do at Andros Taverna?
“Using high quality charcoal allows you to cook over high heat while still imparting gentle smokey flavors that enhance whatever you choose to grill, without masking your food from the harsh flavors often found in gas or poor quality synthetic charcoal.”
— Which proteins work best for hearth and charcoal cooking?
“I like to grill meats that are moderately marbled with some fat. This allows the proteins to stay juicy and while the fat renders, it helps stoke the most flavor out of the grill.”
— What tips and recommendations can you provide when it comes to marinades, rubs and bastes?
“It’s as simple as taking the time to let the coals burn and produce a beautiful bed of glowing embers before you cook.”
— What veggies do you love to grill at home as much as you like to grill meat?
“I absolutely love to grill root vegetables like potatoes. Cooking them slowly allows the vegetables to pick up the amazing flavors of the charcoal.”
— What are your favorite appetizers to bring or make to the BBQ?
“In the height of summer, I love to make a watermelon salad with spicy peppers and tons of feta. The watermelon cools you down, but the spicy peppers are a reminder it’s still summer and you should feel a little heat!”
Farmhouse Evanston
Farmhouse located in Evanston, Illinois has created a veggie focused recipe for grilling season. Made with a Kale Pesto, Asparagus Puree and Cauliflower this dish offers a hearty meal for your next backyard barbecue that allows you to ditch the red meat and focus on cauliflower. The full recipe is linked here.
Photo courtesy of Funkenhausen
Dak Dak Korean Wings
Located in Villa Park (321 East St. Charles Road), Dak Dak offers a menu of crispy, boneless and bone-in Korean wings, that can be ordered for a graduation, birthday, pool party, or a run-of-the-mill Saturday in the backyard. With four different sauces to choose from, mix and match from classic Korean flavors like Soy N Garlic to the leveled-up Better than Buffalo.
Dak Dak serves up Sweet Potato Fries - tempura style, Coleslaw, a plethora of dipping sauces, and more to help round out the spread at your next cookout. Dak Dak makes everything in-house down to their dipping sauces and their wings are made fresh and never frozen.
Funkenhausen
Chef Mark Steuer at Chicago’s Funkenhausen, has created a Beer Bratwurst recipe to kick off your next backyard barbeque. At Funkenhausen, Chef Mark draws on his German heritage and Charleston, South Carolina upbringing to create a menu that reimagines his fondest meals and memories from childhood with a soulful mash-up of cuisines, cultures and memories. Chef Mark’s full recipe can be found here.
Soul & Smoke
Soul & Smoke, with a recent expansion into all 44 Mariano’s grocery stores in the Chicagoland area, offers Chef D’Andre’s barbeque sauce to-go bottles for all the at-home grillmasters. This Kansas City-style barbeque sauce offers the sweet, tangy and thick profile of Kansas City sauce.
urbanbelly and The Table at Crate
Chicago Chef Bill Kim is the author behind “Korean BBQ: Master Your Grill in Seven Sauces” and he offers a tip to up your BBQ game this summer — it’s all about the sauce.
“Literally all you need to blow away your friends and family at the next barbecue is to up your sauces,” said Kim and he added, “the night before you barbecue, take what you’re grilling and let it sit overnight in a sauce or marinade. When you cook it and taste it, it’ll feel like it’s been prepped by ten people. Planning in advance helps you get great multi-dimensional flavors. It’s absolutely no work but makes all the difference in the end.”
One of the sauces Chef Kim holds near and dear to his heart is his Soy Balsamic Sauce. It was his first attempt at using ingredients that didn’t normally go together. Balsamic vinegar has a mix of sweetness, acidity and body to combine with the brown sugar and soy sauce with his creation. Full recipe below:
Ingredients:
1 teaspoon cornstarch, or as needed
2 tablespoons water
¼ cup dark brown sugar, firmly packed
½ cup balsamic vinegar
½ cup soy sauce
Instructions: Makes one cup. Prep time ten minutes, cook time ten minutes
In a small bowl, stir together the cornstarch and water until the cornstarch dissolves and the mixture is the consistency of heavy cream, adding more cornstarch if the mixture is too thin.
Combine the brown sugar, vinegar and soy sauce in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Stir the cornstarch mixture briefly to recombine, then stir it into the soy-vinegar mixture and simmer over low heat for about three minutes, until the sauce thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon.
Remove from the heat, let it cool completely, then refrigerate in an airtight container. This sauce will last for months without going bad.
El Che Steakhouse & Bar
John Manion’s flame-finished beef pairs with his personal concoction: Meat Butter. Unlike most other steakhouses Manion does not prefer his steak to be finished with butter, rather, he would prefer to keep beef tasting like beef by slathering the mix on steaks while they are resting. Full recipe below:
Ingredients:
3lbs trimmed beef fat, diced
4 garlic gloves, finely chopped
Salt to taste
Instructions: Makes 2 Cups
Clean the fat of all meat scraps, and cut into very small pieces. Place it in a food processor, and pulse until it is the consistency of hamburger meat.
Transfer the fat to a Dutch oven and place over very low heat. Slowly cook the fat, stirring occasionally. Skim any impurities that rise to the top. Continue to render the fat until it looks like crumbs and you have a good amount of golden liquid. This can take 3 to 4 hours, but trust me; it’s worth the time. Keep an eye on it; you definitely do not want to scorch or burn it.
Strain the fat through a cheesecloth, then transfer it to a container. Place it in the refrigerator to cool until semi- soft. In a stand or handheld mixer, add garlic and salt to taste, and whip for two minutes. Refrigerate, covered tightly, for up to a month.
Andros Taverna
Chef Doug Psaltis is the Executive Chef and owner of Logan Square’s Andros Taverna, which specializes in Greek food. Chef Psaltis offers his best tips and tricks of the trades for you below:
— What makes you want to cook with a charcoal hearth like you do at Andros Taverna?
“Using high quality charcoal allows you to cook over high heat while still imparting gentle smokey flavors that enhance whatever you choose to grill, without masking your food from the harsh flavors often found in gas or poor quality synthetic charcoal.”
— Which proteins work best for hearth and charcoal cooking?
“I like to grill meats that are moderately marbled with some fat. This allows the proteins to stay juicy and while the fat renders, it helps stoke the most flavor out of the grill.”
— What tips and recommendations can you provide when it comes to marinades, rubs and bastes?
“It’s as simple as taking the time to let the coals burn and produce a beautiful bed of glowing embers before you cook.”
— What veggies do you love to grill at home as much as you like to grill meat?
“I absolutely love to grill root vegetables like potatoes. Cooking them slowly allows the vegetables to pick up the amazing flavors of the charcoal.”
— What are your favorite appetizers to bring or make to the BBQ?
“In the height of summer, I love to make a watermelon salad with spicy peppers and tons of feta. The watermelon cools you down, but the spicy peppers are a reminder it’s still summer and you should feel a little heat!”
Farmhouse Evanston
Farmhouse located in Evanston, Illinois has created a veggie focused recipe for grilling season. Made with a Kale Pesto, Asparagus Puree and Cauliflower this dish offers a hearty meal for your next backyard barbecue that allows you to ditch the red meat and focus on cauliflower. The full recipe is linked here.
Dak Dak Korean Wings
Located in Villa Park (321 East St. Charles Road), Dak Dak offers a menu of crispy, boneless and bone-in Korean wings, that can be ordered for a graduation, birthday, pool party, or a run-of-the-mill Saturday in the backyard. With four different sauces to choose from, mix and match from classic Korean flavors like Soy N Garlic to the leveled-up Better than Buffalo.
Dak Dak serves up Sweet Potato Fries - tempura style, Coleslaw, a plethora of dipping sauces, and more to help round out the spread at your next cookout. Dak Dak makes everything in-house down to their dipping sauces and their wings are made fresh and never frozen.
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